By Geof Collis
November 5, 2011
All businesses with at least one employee will have to comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Customer Service Standard
taking effect Jan. 1, 2012.
In the article “New Accessibility Standards Impact Ontario Restaurants” examples of how this will impact Restaurants are discussed, while not openly apparent a Restaurants Menu is one of those Services that needs to be accessed by assistive devices such as a screen reader.
Some Restaurants offer Large Print or Braille menus, but what if you cant read either?
Others put it on their website, a PDF, but neither is accessible and still others think because they put it on Facebook that magically solves the issue, however Facebook is notoriously inaccessible.
The other options such as someone reading it to you just isn’t a real choice and that is one of the reasons aMENU was created.
aMENU is a website that participating Restaurants can place their Menus so that it can be accessed not only with assistive devices but portable devices such as Mobile Phones.
The site offers options so menus can be viewed in:
- Regular and large print black text on a white background
- High contrast regular or large print text
- Dyslexic
- Mobile device in regular and high contrast
- Restaurant locator using Google Maps
Now you can read a participating Restaurants menu before you even get to their establishment.
The first Restaurant to lead the way is Macy’s Diner & Delicatessen in Mississauga.
Owner Hans Sturzenbecher has clearly understood the need for accessibility in all aspects of his establishment and is the first Restaurant to have his Accessible Menu coded for accessibility and placed on the site so that Ontarians with Disabilities, Mobile phone users and even Tourists can access it with their assistive devices either at home, en route or in the Restaurant itself.
Why not show your appreciation to Macy’s for their commitment to accessibility by visiting them for some All day breakfast, Saturday night Roast Beef dinner, Montreal Smoked meats or Let Chef & Owner Hans create a bountiful spread for your next home or office gathering. Tell him aMENU sent you!
Now it’s time for other Restaurants to embrace Macy’s initiative and get their Menus on www.amenu.ca so that Ontarians with Disabilities can have equal access to something as simple as a Restaurant menu.
Restaurant Owners wishing to know more go to www.amenu.ca/presentation and view a Presentation or send us a Restaurant’s contact email and we’ll do it for you.